The 36-year-old Spaniard took two hours and 18 minutes to win 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 against Norwegian eighth seed Ruud as he moves two Grand Slams ahead of his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

It is the first time that Nadal has won the Australian Open and French Open trophies in the same season after taking his career record at Roland Garros to 112 wins and three losses since his debut in 2005.

Nadal’s achievement is even more impressive considering that he struggled with a serious foot injury in defeat to Canadian Denis Shapovalov in Rome just over three weeks ago.

"For me personally, it is very difficult to describe the feelings that I have," Nadal said during the trophy ceremony.

"It is something that I have never believed.

"To be here at 36, being competitive again on the most important court of my career.

"One more title means a lot.

"It means a lot of energy to try and keep going.

"I don’t know what can happen in the future but I am going to keep fighting to try and keep going."

Nadal exploded out of the gate with an intense and aggressive first-set performance with devastating topspin forehands to gain an early advantage.

Despite a slow start to the second set, Nadal was able to rally back from being 3-1 down by persevering on the longer rallies and produced a series of stunning passing shots on both sides of he court.

This allowed him to take control of the match before racing clear in the third set to become the oldest French Open men's singles champion, surpassing compatriot Andrés Gimeno who won aged 34 in 1972.